General Motors Cuts $10,000 From Volt, Plans For Higher Oil Prices

For all the dismissive attitudes surrounding GM CEO Dan Akerson, his latest machinations seem particularly astute, even if they don’t quite jibe with the tastes of “car guys”.

For months, Akerson has been creating a contingency plan for when oil prices rise to $120 per barrel. Akerson is on record stating that “I don’t think the industry learned a lot of lessons from 2008 — they will this time around,” and who can blame the guy. GM was sunk last time around in part because there were too many SUVs and trucks sitting on dealer lots when gas prices were high and credit was unavailable.

Cars like the Chevrolet Cruze, Sonic (above) and Buick Verano should help flesh out a lineup that was devoid of small cars during the last crisis, and Akerson has also demanded that the company find ways to reduce the cost of the Chevrolet Volt by $10,000. GM sources say that the goal has nearly been achieved, and that the Volt could either see an increase in production, a price cut – or more likely, a bump in profits for GM.

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If Chevy can drop the price by $10km, that would certainly answer one of my chief complaints about EVs: they are too expensive for the people that would benefit the most from them.

Ramond LeHigh

A $32K Volt (even more threadbare than what’s there now) is still
a lot to pay for what is essentially a $13K vehicle. We can assume
it will remain as ugly as ever.

Jeffrey

America never learned last time gas went up to $4 they all think it will go back down. Gas was 25 cents when I started to drive. an I never did see that again. Most of the world see higher cost for fuel. And when the economy starts back up again and fuel demand is up, so will the prices. There is only so much of it. What will it take for America to wake up. But sadly I think it really is too late for them.

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